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American Homecomings honors veterans across the nation

Daily Record/Sunday News News

Posted:
11/11/2013 10:10:29 AM EST

Mary McHugh mourns her slain fiance Sgt. James Regan at "Section 60" of the Arlington National Cemetery May 27, 2007. Regan, a US Army Ranger, was killed by an IED explosion in Iraq in February of this year, and this was the first time McHugh had visited the grave since the funeral. Section 60, the newest portion of the vast national cemetery on the outskirts of Washington D.C, contains hundreds of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Family members of slain American soldiers have flown in from across the country for Memorial Day. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Nov. 11 is a day to honor veterans. Those who have fought for freedom. Those who have died and those who live on with the memories of war.

In York County and beyond, Americans are commemorating Veterans Day with parades, wreath-laying ceremonies, monument dedications and other events.

Veterans Day: Events and ceremonies around nation

Across the nation, Americans are commemorating Veterans Day with parades, wreath-laying ceremonies, monument dedications and other events.

NEW YORK: WOMEN IN SERVICE

The U.S. military's first female four-star general was set to be a grand marshal at New York City's Veterans Day Parade.

Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody retired last year after a 37-year Army career.

Organizers of the parade up Fifth Avenue have renamed it America's Parade.

OBAMA PAYS TRIBUTE TO 107-YEAR-OLD VETERAN

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - President Barack Obama on Monday paid tribute to those who have served in the nation's military, including one of the nation's oldest veterans, 107-year-old Richard Overton.

"This is the life of one American veteran, living proud and strong in the land he helped keep free," Obama said during a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

Overton was among those in the audience for the outdoor ceremony on a crisp, sun-splashed Veteran's Day. Earlier Monday, Overton and other veterans attended a breakfast at the White House.

Obama used his remarks Monday to remind the nation that thousands of service members are still at war in Afghanistan. The war is expected to formally conclude at the end of next year, though the U.S. may keep a small footprint in the country.

As the Afghan war comes to a close, Obama said the nation has a responsibility to ensure that the returning troops are the "best cared-for and best respected veterans in the world." The country's obligations to those who served "endure long after the battle ends," he said.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

The District of Columbia planned to honor two of the original Tuskegee Airmen with the Congressional Gold Medal for Veterans Day.

Washington Mayor Vincent Gray and congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton planned to lay a wreath at the African American Civil War Memorial. A commemoration will follow for two Tuskegee Airmen who are D.C. residents at the African American Civil War Museum.

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of African-American pilots in World War II.